Toilet bowl ventilating apparatus



Jan. 25, 1966 R. A. KOPP TOILET BOWL VENTILATING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Shee l Filed March 25, 1963 Jan. 25, 1966 R. A. KOPP TOILET BOWL VENTILATING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 25, 1963 lli/VENTO@ RUBEN A. KOPP #www Jan. 25, 1966 R. A. KOPP 3,230,551

TOILET BOWL VENTILATING APPARATUS Filed March 25, 1963 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 /NvEA/ro@ RU BEN A. KOPP A Traa/verf United States Patent fiice 3,230,551 Patented Jan. 25, 1956 3,230,551 TOILET BOWL VENTILATING APPARATUS Ruben A. Kopp, 1519 Beach Ave., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Filed Mar. 25, 1963, Ser. No. 267,706 1 Claim. (Cl. 4-213) This invention relates to apparatus for Venting toilet bowls.

Different forms of apparatus exists for venting toilet bowls. However, some of the prior devices are very complicated and expensive, some require specially constructed toilet bowls, others are unsightly, while others are unsanitary.

The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing bowl Ventilating apparatus which is very simple in construction, which may be applied to any standard toilet bowl, which looks substantially the same as any standard toilet seat and cover arrangement, and which may be very easily cleaned and maintained in a sanitary condition. This apparatus is safe to use, automatic in its operation, does not interfere with the use of the toilet bowl cover as a seat, it may have a lter when vented air is discharged in the room or it may discharge to outside atmosphere, and it may or may not have air purifying apparatus included in it.

Toilet bowl Ventilating apparatus according to the present invention comprises an annular seat having front and back ends connected by two sides and adapted to be mounted on a toilet bowl, a tube tangentially arranged relative to the back end of the seat and iixedly connected thereto between the ends of said tube, a duct formed in the seat and communicating with the tube, a plurality of openings formed in the seat through which the duct therein communicates with the bowl, bearing means rotatably connected to the ends of the tube rotatably to support the annular seat, at least one of said bearing means being hollow, and an exhaust fan connected to the hollow bearing means for drawing air from the bowl through the duct and said tube. The duct in the annular seat is preferably in the form of a groove formed in the under surface of each side of the seat and the back end and an elongated cover removably mounted on the seat over the groove formed therein, said openings being formed in this cover. A shield is provided at each slot spaced outwardly from the cover, each shield being connected to the cover between its slots and the back end of the seat and extending toward the front end thereof.

The preferred form of the invention includes spacedapart bearing blocks adapted to be mounted on the back portion of a toilet bowl. Suitable securing means is provided for these blocks to enable them to be attached to the bowl by means of the standard holes formed in the back part of the bowl for the standard cover and seat arrangements.

An example of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

FIGURE 1 is a side elevation of the Ventilating apparatus mounted on a toilet' bowl with the cover in the closed position,

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE l with parts thereof broken away,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIGURE l,

FIGURE 4 is a bottom plan view of the annular seat with parts thereof broken away,

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken on the line 5-5 of FIGURE 4,

FIGURE 6 is a cross section taken on the line 6-6 of FIGURE 2,

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged perspective View of a bearing block, and

i ing on the rim of said bowl.

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the exhaust fan unit taken on the line 8-8 of FIGURE 1.

Referring to the drawings, 10 is a standard toilet bowl having the usual ledge 11 at the top and back thereof, and a rim 12 ahead of said ledge.

Bowl Ventilating apparatus 15 is mounted on the top of bowl 10. This apparatus consists generally of an annular seat 17, a cover 18, spaced-apart bearing blocks 20 and 21, and an exhaust fan unit 22. Blocks 20 and 21 rest on ledge 11, while annular seat 17 overlies the bowl rim 12, and cover 18 rests on the seat when in its closed position.

Annular seat 17 includes front and back ends 25 and 26 connected by two sides 28 and 29. Seat 17 has a substantially flat under surface 31, and a plurality of buttons 32 on said under surface at front end 25 of the seat rest on bowl rim 12 to support said front end of the seat spaced a little above the rim. A groove 35 is formed in the under surface 31 of seat 17 and extends along each of the sides 28 and 29 of the seat and across the back end 26 thereof, see FIGURE 4. The seat is formed with a projection 3'7 at the back end thereof, and a passage 38 within said projection communicates with groove 35 and extends outwardly therefrom to and in communication with a tube 40 extending through and beyond projection 37 tangentially relative to the back end 26 of the annular seat. Tube 40 may be actually in the form of a tube as shown, or it may be in the form of a passage extending through projection 37, in which case, the projection would be formed with hollow lugs projecting from the ends thereof to take the place `of the ends of the tube which appear in FIGURE 3. An air filter 42 removably extends across passage 38 between groove 3S and tube 40.

An elongated cover 45 is removably mounted over groove 35 and held in position in any desired manner. As groove 35 is of substantially horseshoe shape, cover 45 is the same shape, and it has a section 46 covering the under surface of projection 37 and, therefore, passage 38. In this example, cover 45 is provided with lips 48 at the free ends thereof which t into sockets 49 formed in the seat at the ends of groove 35. A fastening screw 50 is provided in the cover and is adapted to be threaded into a boss 51 in groove 35 substantially midway between the ends thereof. Cover 45 is provided with a plurality of slots 53 therein which bring groove 35 into communication with the interior of bowl 10 when seat 17 is rest- It is preferable to provide a shield 54 over each slot 53. Each shield is connected at 55 to cover 45 between its slots and the front end 25 of the annular seat so that when the latter is swung into a substantially vertical position, each shield hangs down over its slot 53 and is spaced outwardly from cover 45, see FIGURE 5.

Bearing block 20 is formed with a recess 58 extending inwardly from its inner surface 59, and a slot 60 formed in the bottom 61 of the block communicates with said recess. A T-shaped bolt 62 has a head 63 at one end is formed with threads 64 at its opposite end. A nut 65 is adapted to be threaded on bolt 62.

Block 20 is mounted on ledge 11 by means of bolt 62. The head 63 of this bolt is slipped into recess 58 of the block with the bolt extending downwardly through slot 60 and through the standard hole formed in ledge 11. When nut 65 is threaded on the bolt and tightened, the block is held rmly on the ledge.

A bore 68 extends through block 20 and has a short tube 69 extending therethrough. If desired, the tube may be formed with a projection 70 fitting into a slot 71 formed in the block to prevent said tube from rotating in bore 68.

Seat projection 37 lits between blocks 20 and 21, and tube 40 rotatably lits over the end of tube 69 which projects inwardly from block 20. The opposite end of tube 40 rotatably fits over another short tube 75 which extends through a bore 76 formed in block 21, said block being fixedly mounted on ledge 11 in the same manner as block 20. Hoses '78 and 79 extend from tubes 69 and 75 to a common hose 80, which, in turn, extends to the exhaust fan unit 22.

Annular seat 17 is supported through tube 40 and projection 37 at its back end by bearing tubes 69 and 75, and supported at its front end by buttons 32. The seat normally lies in a horizontal position over the top of bowl 10, as shown in FIGURE l, and it may be swung into a substantially vertical position at the back of the bowl as is customary with seats of this nature..

Fan unit 22, see FIGURE 8, includes a closed casing 84 having end walls 85 and 86. An entrance 87 is formed in wall 85, and hose 80 communicates with said entrance. An exhaust fan 90 is mounted in casing 84 near entrance 87 and is operated. by a motor 91. An air filter 93 covers the exhaust side of fan 90, said filter preferably being formed of activated. carbon. All air drawn into casing 84 by fan 90 is directed into and through filter 93. An exhaust opening 95 is formed in wall 86 through which the air travels from casing 84.

If desired, a spray bomb 98 is mounted in casing 84 and contains an air purifier under pressure. This air purifier may be triethylene glycol which is odorless, although it may contain a perfume, if desired. Spray bomb 98 is such that when plunger 100 is depressed, a charge of air purifier is directed into casing 84. A plate 102 hangs over the exhaust opening 95, said plate being supported by an arm 103 pivotally mounted at 104 on end wall 86. A finger 106 mounted on the upper end of arm 103 projects into the casing in line with plunger 100 so that when air passing out through opening 95 strikesl plate 102, the latter is swung outwardly about pivot point 104 to move finger 106 inwardly and thereby depress plunger 100.

It is desirable to cause the fan unit 22 to function when a person sits on seat 17, and to stop the unit when the person leaves the seat. To this end, bore 68 of bearing block is made a little larger than necessary to accommodate tube 69. A switching device 110 is placed. in bore 68 beneath tube 69 so that when a weight is applied to the back end 26 of seat 17, tube 69 is moved downwardly to operate switching device 110. Device 110 may be in the form of a normally open electric switch which is closed when tube 69 is depressed, and which opens when said tube is free. This switch is located in the electrical circuit of motor 91 of the fan unit to energize the motor when the switch is closed. Alternatively, device 110 may be in the form of a resilient bag containing a fiuid which is ejected through a tube when bearing tube 69 is depressed to operate a switch in the fan motor circuit. The main thing is that fan 90 is set into operation when a person sits on seat 17, and stops when the person leaves the seat.

Cover 18 is provided at its inner end 115 with lugs 116 projecting laterally from the sides thereof into recesses 118 formed in the inner surfaces of bearing blocks 20 and 21. A cavity 120 is formed in cover end 115 removably to hold a spray bomb 122 containing an air purifier under pressure. This bomb is the type having a finger 123 projecting from an end thereof which is pressed laterally relative to the bomb causing a charge of air purifier to be ejected from the bomb. Finger 123 extends towards bearing block 20 and when cover 18 is swung from its closed position into an open position which is substantially vertical relative to ledge 11, finger 123 passes a stop 125 projecting from the inner surface 59 of block 20. The stop swings finger 123 so as to cause air purifier to be discharged from bomb 122. When the cover is returned to its normal position, finger 123 is again operated to discharge air purifier from bomb 122.

With the arrangement described, as long as there is a weight on seat 17, fan unit 22 operates to draw air from 4 bowl 10 through slots 53 in cover 45, groove 35, filter 42, passage 38, tube 40, and hoses 78, 79 and 80. The air is filtered by filter 93 in casing 84 of unit 22, and it is subjected to air purifier ejected from bomb 98 when plate 102 is swung outwardly relative to the casing by air passing through opening 95. If spray bomb 122 is provided in cover 18, this bomb is operated to eject air purifier into the air when cover 18 is swung to its closed position.

Shields 54 lie over slots 53 in cover 45 in order to prevent liquids from entering groove 35. This groove and cover 45 form a duct which extends along the opposite sides of the top of bowl 10 to the back thereof, said duct communicating with passage 38 through filter 42. This filter keeps passage 38 and tube 40 clear of any foreign elements. In order to remove cover 45, it is only necessary to loosen screw 50 and to lift the cover away from seat 17 so that the cover and groove 35 may easily be cleaned and kept in a sanitary condition.

Although casing 84 is shown in FIGURE 8 with an outlet opening 95 which discharges into the atmosphere outside said casing, it is obvious that a tube or pipe may extend from this opening outside the room in which the toilet bowl is located.

Bearing block-s 20 and 21 are quickly mounted on the ledge 11 of a standard toilet bowl so that apparatus 15 may be applied to any bowl which is designed to have a standard toilet seat and. cover mounted thereon. This apparatus is very simple, and looks substantially the same as a standard seat and cover arrangement.

Fan unit 22 may be located immediately behind bowl 10, as shown in FIGURE l, or it may be located in a cupboard built for this purpose, or it may even be located in another room. `Hose would be made long enough to extend to any place the fan unit may be positioned.

What I claim as my invention is:

Toilet bowl Ventilating apparatus comprising an annular seat having front and back ends connected by two sides and adapted to be mounted on a toilet bowl, a tube tangentially arranged relative to the back end of the seat and iixedly connected thereto between the ends of said tube, a duct formed in the seat and communicating with the tube, a plurality of openings formed in the seat through which the duct therein communicates with the bowl, bearing means connected to the ends of the tube rotatably to support the annular Seat, at least one of said bearing means being hollow, an exhaust fan connected to the hollow bearing means for drawing air from the bowl through the duct and said tube, a hingedly-mounted cover seat lying in a closed position over the seat and swingably away from the seat into an open position, a spray bomb carried by the cover seat and containing an air purifier under pressure, a lever projecting from the bomb and loperable each time it is moved to release a charge of air purifier from the bomb, and means positioned to move said plunger each time the seat cover is moved to or from the open position.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,774,156 8/193() Root 4-213 X 2,079,733 5/1937 Cummings 4-213 2,183,897 12/1939 Stiller. 2,216,008 9/1940 Heuhacker 4-213 2,824,313 2/1958 Bulow 4-213 2,974,323 3/1961 Nofsinger 4--213 FOREIGN PATENTS 939,895 2/ 1956 Germany. 658,158 10/ 1951 Great Britain.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

EDWARD V. BENHAM, LEWIS I. LENNY, Examiners. 

